Corporate donations reignite calls for election financing overhaul

Karen Kleiss and Chris Varcoe, Calgary Herald04.04.2014

Wildrose president Dave Yager said donations from the grassroots helped the party keep pace with the Tories’ larger corporate contributions. “No matter how big a cheque you write, you only get one vote,” he said.Christina Ryan
/ Calgary Herald

Dave Hancock says political fundraising is directly tied to “confidence” of the electorate.Colleen De Neve Colleen De Neve
/ Calgary Herald

Energy firms and large corporations were among the biggest donors to Alberta political parties last year, but critics say it’s more evidence the province’s political financing rules need a major overhaul.

A review of Elections Alberta filings show Encana, TransAlta, Enbridge, Suncor and BFI Canada donated an average of $20,000 each to political parties in 2013, ranking them among the biggest financial contributors in Alberta politics.

“It really is a way as a company that we can support the democratic process,” Encana spokesman Jay Averill said recently, explaining the company supported three parties because “if parties are being supported financially, then they can focus on governing.”

Encana, a Calgary-based petroleum producer, gave a total of $30,516.50 to the Wildrose ($9,800), the Liberals ($3,000) and the Progressive Conservatives, with donations to PCs split between the governing party itself ($13,235) and 10 constituency associations ($4,481.50).

Averill said the contributions to Tory constituency associations were typically tied to local events in areas where the company operates.

“The whole goal is to make sure you have a more stable democratic environment. . . . If you have a stable democratic environment, you actually have a better environment for long-term investment,” he added.

TransAlta contributed $17,000 — giving almost all to the Tories — while Enbridge gave $16,500, which included $3,000 to the Wildrose and $1,700 to the Liberals.

Suncor gave $20,500, most of which went to the Conservative party and constituency associations ($16,000); the rest went to the Wildrose ($4,500).

Waste company BFI Canada contributed nearly $18,000, with $6,000 going to the Wildrose and the remainder to the Tories.

Last year, the Progressive Conservatives and Wildrose parties each brought in roughly $3 million in donations. Under Alberta’s election laws, donors can give up to $15,000 to each registered party, plus an additional $5,000 to constituency associations.

“There’s a real direct correlation between who’s paying the piper and what the policies are,” said Bill Moore-Kilgannon, executive director of Public Interest Alberta.

The three opposition parties in Alberta have previously called for rule changes that would ban union and corporation donations, matching a federal prohibition.

Duff Conacher of Democracy Watch, a national watchdog group, said compared to the federal system, Alberta’s financial rules are “dangerously undemocratic” because the donation limits are so high. Federally, individuals can give $1,200 annually to a party and another $1,200 to riding associations in non-election years.

“Only individuals vote, so only individuals should be allowed to donate. And they should only be allowed to donate the amount that an average voter can afford,” Conacher said recently. “That’s the only way to have a system that upholds the fundamental democratic principle: one person, one vote.”

According to Elections Alberta documents, the Wildrose won the party fundraising war in 2013, bringing in a total of $3.07 million, most of which came from individuals.

The Opposition party says it received money from 12,262 donors last year, with 2,326 giving $250 or more and requiring identification under provincial laws. These smaller donations made up 45 per cent of the party’s fundraising base.

Only one individual gave the maximum $15,000 amount to the Wildrose: Calgarian Jim Davidson, the chairman of FirstEnergy investment firm.

Other large individual Wildrose donors include Sherin Meadows of Red Deer County, who gave $10,000 to the Wildrose and another $2,000 to the party’s constituencies, and Matt Meier, president of Internet and polling firm RackNine Inc., who gave $11,411.

On the corporate side, the Wildrose did not have any donors contribute the maximum $15,000, but had several large donors crack the five-figure threshold, including Kidco Construction Ltd., which gave the party $10,000.

Wildrose president Dave Yager said the party managed to tap into many individual supporters in 2013, which helped the official Opposition keep pace with the larger corporate donations of the Tories.

“We see that as a measure of grassroots support,” he said Thursday. “No matter how big a cheque you write, you only get one vote.”

The Progressive Conservative party had fewer donors, but more big-ticket contributions.

The party says it had 6,110 donors last year; smaller contributions under $250 made up eight per cent of its overall donations base.

Some individual donors gave the maximum $15,000 last year, including Eleanor Chiu and Wayne Chiu of Calgary, T. Cheng Fong, and Resman Holdings, according to the filings.

On Wednesday, party president Jim McCormick sent out a letter to members noting the PCs, through donations made to the party and individual constituency associations, actually raised almost $1-million more than the Wildrose.

Premier Dave Hancock said Wednesday that party “fundraising is actually not that bad” and constituency associations have done well raising money in the past year, despite recent political turmoil.

“A lot of people focus on the money, but the money is not the most important thing in the world. You need money to get things done. The money will flow if you can demonstrate you can provide the confidence that people want to see,” Hancock said in an interview.

Among the other parties, Liberal Leader Raj Sherman gave $11,150 to his party, more than any other party leader.

The NDP received donations from unions and labour groups, including $14,841 from the United Food and Commercial Workers and nearly $9,000 from the United Steel Workers.

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